Madison — Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp on Tuesday defended Gov. Scott Walker's plan to turn the Natural Resources Board into an advisory panel, instead of one that makes policy, even as she acknowledged she had not been consulted on the proposal in advance.

"I feel that it's extra layers," Stepp said of the board in a briefing to the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee. "I think it's duplicative."

The idea has sparked opposition from Democrats as well as some of Walker's fellow Republicans. Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) said he had "some concerns" about the plan.(47)

If Park Bank is liable for not spotting Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva's $34 million embezzlement from Koss Corp., then so is chief executive Michael Koss, the bank argues in a new lawsuit.

In a suit filed last week, the bank argues that if a jury finds Park Bank liable for the loss, then Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, the firm's former auditor, should have to pay some of the award.

"Park Bank denies any and all liability to Koss in this case," Park Bank wrote in its action. "Nevertheless, should Park Bank be found liable to Koss (Corp.) and required to pay damages to Koss in this case those damages will have been the result of a common liability of Park Bank, Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, thereby entitling Park Bank to (a) contribution from Michael Koss and Grant Thornton."(1)

McCarthy: Safety Nick Collins is out for the year

Green Bay - Packers coach Mike McCarthy came out saying he had bad news and he wasn't kidding.

Safety Nick Collins is out for the season with a neck injury.

Collins, who returned to Green Bay at 1 p.m., was evaluated last night in a Charlotte hospital and it was determined he should not play the rest of the season. A course of treatment, including whether to have surgery, is still being evaluated.

"Nick was in the team meeting," McCarthy said, when he informed the team about Collins' status.

UPDATE:Collins' agent, Alan Herman, said that he has talked to Collins twice and that a diagnosis is not complete. He said he did not know exactly what the injury is, but he said it is not spinal cord-related or a fracture.

"It's 100% not a broken neck or a spinal cord injury," Herman said.

All signs point to a disk injury, but Herman said one thing the doctors will be looking at is whether it was related to a previous injury.

Cornerback Jarrett Bush said it was an emotional moment for everyone. He said Collins held it together as well as he could.

"I'm sure behind closed doors," Bush said of Collins becoming emotional. "But you're not going to show anything in public. It was kind of shocking for all of us."

Details of the injury were not revealed. Collins is expected to meet with specialists before making a decision on the next course of action.

Asked if there were any career-ending implications, McCarthy said, "They're not far along in the evaluation process to make statements like that."

McCarthy said Collins is not in any pain.

"He has a neck brace on and he's walking around," he said. "You would never know (he's injured)."

McCarthy said when he first went to the podium for his post-game press conference, he had been told a pair of tests looked good. But later, before the team left, another test showed a problem.

The players said they had no idea the injury was that serious.

"I didn't think it was going to be season-ending at all," Bush said. "It's unfortunate. It was definitely hard on him. You love it so much and you work so hard, year round, to have it stop short is bad personally."

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers said Collins will be missed.

“It’s the unfortunate part of our game," Capers said. "We all know that it can happen on any given play. Nick has been a heck of a player for us and it’s hard to replace a guy like Nick. We’ll have to pick up and move forward.

"Fortunately we have a guy in Charlie Peprah that played an awful lot of football for us last year and played well. Morgan Burnett is off to excellent start. He’s had back-to-back very good games for us. We’ll have to go from there. There’s no question that Nick will be missed.”

The obvious choice Peprah, who stepped in for Morgan Burnett last year after Burnett blew out his knee. Burnett now bears a lot of responsibility for being the big-play man in the middle.

Capers said Burnett was very impressive against Carolina, coming up with two key tackles in the red zone, a sack and an interception.

"He's coming along," Capers said. "i thought he played a good game."

About Tom Silverstein

Tom Silverstein is in his 25th year covering the Green Bay Packers and 30th year with the Journal Sentinel. He is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year award winner.